Wyndham Championship: Third-round notebook

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• North Carolina State graduate Carl Pettersson posted a 4-under 66 on Saturday to move to 19 -under 191, two strokes ahead of Scott McCarron. His three-day total of 19-under 191 trails only John Cook's (1996 FedEx St. Jude Classic/24 under), Mark Calcavecchia's (2001 Phoenix Open/24 under) and Tommy Armour III's (2003 Valero Texas Open/21 under) PGA TOUR 54-hole record of 189. His 191 has been equaled by five other players, including most recently Tiger Woods at the 2007 TOUR Championship.

McCarron

• Scott McCarron is making his fourth career start at the Wyndham Championship but first since he missed the cut in 2002. His first two outings resulted in a tie for 21st in 2000 and a tie for 19th in 2001.

• Scott McCarron's 17-under 193 total through three rounds is his career lowest opening 54-hole score, topping the 195 he posted through the first three rounds of the 2003 Invensys Classic at Las Vegas. He eventually dropped a playoff to Stuart Appleby at that five-day event.

• Scott McCarron is looking for his first TOUR victory since winning the 2001 BellSouth Classic, over seven years ago. McCarron is making his 154th start since winning in Atlanta.

• Briny Baird's 8-under 62 equals the lowest third-round score in Wyndham Championship history (Mark O'Meara - 1996). Much like Carl Pettersson's 61 on Friday, Baird's scorecard included two bogeys. His excellent play helped him jump 26 spots from tied for 29th to tied for third.

Baird

• Briny Baird posted a 7-under 28 on the back nine for the lowest nine-hole score of the season.

• The previous low opening 54-hole score on TOUR this season was 15-under 195, set by K.J. Choi (Sony Open in Hawaii), Brian Gay (Mayakoba Classic) and Stewart Cink (Travelers Championship). Parker McLachlin's 196 at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open is next on the list but holds the distinction as the lowest 54-hole total in relation to par this season (20-under). By comparison, the lowest 54-hole score on TOUR this season (any rounds) is Tommy Armour III's 16-under 194 set on the final three days of the Travelers Championship.

• The previous lowest opening 54-hole score at the Wyndham Championship was Jesper Parnevik's 195 total in 1999 (Forest Oaks CC). At Sedgefield Country Club, the previous lowest opening 54-hole score was 199, shared by George Archer (1967), Dave Stockton (1967), Billy Casper (1973) and Lou Graham (1973).

• Kent Jones posted a 5-under 65 on Saturday to move into the top 10 on the leaderboard with just 18 holes to play. Playing well at Sedgefield Country Club isn't unfamiliar territory for Jones. In 2000, he won the Nationwide Tour's Greensboro Open at Sedgefield, firing rounds of 66-66-67-64 for a three-stroke win over amateur Charles Howell III and Jay Hobby . It capped off a two-win season for the 41-year-old New Mexico native.

• Since 1950, the third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win the Wyndham Championship 32 times, including every year since 1999 with the exception of Brandt Snedeker's come-from-behind win in 2007.

• The third-round leader has gone on to win 19 of 35 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR in 2008, including most recently Parker McLachlin at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open and Vijay Singh at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

• Rich Beem made the cut on the number (3-under 137) on Friday after making an eagle at No. 15 and a birdie at No. 16. On Saturday he posted a 7-under 63 to move from a tie for 61st to a tie for 13th. His 63 ties his career low on TOUR.

• There have been 13 players that have earned their maiden PGA TOUR victory at the Wyndham Championship, including Brandt Snedeker last year. The others: Sam Byrd (1942), Art Doering (1951), Earl Stewart (1953), Stan Leonard (1957), Bob Goalby (1958), Bud Allin (1971), Danny Edwards (1977), Seve Ballesteros (1978), Joey Sindelar (1985), Steve Elkington (1990), Mike Springer (1994) and Frank Nobilo (1997).

• This week's Wyndham Championship is the last of 37 Regular Season events on the 2008 PGA TOUR schedule. Starting next week at The Barclays, the top 144 players on the FedExCup points list will advance to the four-week long PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup that culminate with the top-30 players teeing it up in THE TOUR Championship in Atlanta.

• While tournament leader Carl Pettersson is well inside the top 144 players who will advance to the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, several of his closest competitors need a good weekend to stamp their ticket into the Playoffs.

• Bogey-free rounds during the third round were turned in by Scott McCarron (64), Scott Sterling (64), John Senden (67) and Bob Estes (67)